Pakistanis have grown up with the phenomenon of load shedding. In the poshest localities of Karachi, most apartment complexes come equipped with backup generators when the light inevitably goes off.

Transmission and distribution (T&T) losses occur when the electricity generated is more than the amount delivered to end-users. It is extremely galling to think that your baby is awake all night crying because almost a fifth of the energy generated is loss along the way.

While India and Pakistan are roughly in the same boat, Bangladesh’s T&D losses are closer to the global average. Similar to Pakistan, India’s losses are due to technical inefficiency and theft. Media reports indicates its losses to be upwards of $7bn. While Bangladesh’s losses as a percentage of total energy produced are lower than Pakistan’s, it too suffers from the problem of high installed capacity and low fuel availability owing to higher prices.

Countries that are highly indebted and poor tend to have a higher percentage of losses. Logically, if people are poor they are more likely to steal electricity than pay for it.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 17th, 2022